The Wild Card

by Kendall Ryan

Genres: Romance, Fake Dating, Grumpy Sunshine, Contemporary Romance, Forced Proximity, Contemporary, Friends To Lovers

394 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 20, 2026

About the author

Kendall Ryan is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of flirty, feel-good romance filled with heart, heat, and plenty of banter. An American author who has lived all over the world, her books have sold millions of copies and been translated into multiple languages. She writes swoony heroes, bold heroines, and stories that make you laugh, blush, and fall in love. When she’s not dreaming up new plotlines, she is a proud mom to two amazing sons and the wife of her real-life hero.


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Reviews

[ari ⁠♡]

DNF at 17%. On a very, VERY surface level, I could see why this worked for other people, but no, I did not want to put myself through another 83% of a book that already grated on my nerves this much.

The story itself was simple enough. The MMC had anxiety and OCD, and he didn’t want a promotion that would require him to move to another state, so he needed an excuse to stay where he was. The way he went about it though? 🫠 He was looking for a roommate, who later turned out to be the FMC, and apparently there was a fake girlfriend clause in the agreement. When he eventually told her about it, I hated the way he handled the whole thing. Instead of actually explaining himself, he basically went, “You signed it.” Erm??? You’re an adult. Surely you can communicate like one. It just made him come across as childish.

And then there was the ✨sexual tension✨. Maybe I’m just too Asian for this because in what universe were you comfortable living with a roommate of the opposite sex and, on the first day she moved in, casually knocking on her door shirtless? Or opening the door for your male roommate wearing skin-tight sleep shorts and a thin tank top? You literally just met😭

The MMC was already fantasizing about getting with her almost immediately, and I was just sitting there thinking, can we maybe get to know each other first???

The FMC. She talked A LOT, and so much of what she said made me cringe. Then she came up with this whole boyfriend duty agreement, and that was pretty much the final nail in the coffin for me.

A few of the demands:

Jars

“Opening them. All of them. Non-negotiable. They’re always sealed too tight, and there’s a lot of pasta sauce in my future. You’re on jar duty.”

And then:

Mandatory cuddling sessions

“There’s a severe cuddling deficiency happening in the world right now—an epidemic, really. My friends complain about it all the time. They’re all dating guys who want to have sex but won’t just hold them on the couch for ten minutes. And you can’t ask for more cuddle time without seeming needy or clingy or whatever.”

I just couldn’t. Maybe this book got better later, maybe the romance eventually worked for everyone else, but I wasn’t gonna get through the 83% to find out.

[Sim-fully Ever After]

4.5🌟 | 3🌶️

This was such a fun, tender opposites-attract romance, and the two of them completely won me over.

Their personalities could not be more different, with Crew needing structure and control while Emmie brings a little chaos wherever she goes, but somehow they fit together so naturally. Their chemistry was there from the start, and I loved the easy banter and all the little moments that showed just how comfortable they became with each other.

Crew was definitely the standout for me. Watching him slowly loosen his grip on the routines and walls he had built around himself was so rewarding, especially as he learned to trust Emmie and let himself experience things outside his comfort zone. Emmie was such a warm, caring presence, and I loved how she brought out a softer side of him without ever trying to change who he was. Their relationship felt genuine, and the domestic moments between them were some of my favorites.

There was plenty of humor and sweetness, but also some emotional moments that really got to me. The third-act breakup hurt, especially after watching these two find such a safe place in each other, but I thought the eventual payoff was worth the angst. Add in the fake dating, forced proximity, a judgmental cat, and some lovely character growth, and this was an easy romance to settle into and enjoy.

This was an easy romance to adore for from beginning to end.

~~~~

A huge thank you to the lovely author, Kendall Ryan, for the ARC! 😍 All my bookish thoughts are completely my own. ✨

[Bri]

Get it here:
Amazon US * Amazon UK

[Anca A]

#Review: *The Wild Card* - Kendall Ryan - ARC [16+]
4.8/5✨
2/5🌶️

He needed a girlfriend and she desperately needed a place to stay. Crew Jensen has just settled in his new place and he truly needed a way to escape from being sent to Alaska by his boss and the idea of having a fake girlfriend seemed more appealing to him with each day passing. It all started as a simple joke, but Crew's mind couldn't be stopped. So, when looking for a new roommate, Crew had to find someone who could be his temporarily fake girlfriend as well. That's where Emmie Marshall comes into the picture, an incredible talented cook, who needed a quiet and steady place where she could finish writing her cook book. What she didn't expect was to find herself in the situation of pretending to be her new landlord girlfriend. What could go wrong in this crazy situation?🤭

Ohhh, this book was such a great mix of super funny and sensitive. Everything regarding Crew's need of having a fake girlfriend was hilarious, because of how closed he was and how hard would be for him to accomplish that. But Crew managed to surprise everyone and I laughed so much at their reaction when they found out that he succeed in finding someone. Emmie was his total opposite, being so easy for her to be friendly and open to anyone she met. That should have been a problem for Crew, who liked his house to be tidy and quiet, but I liked how he was truly mesmerized by Emmie and managed to get pass those little things. Even if the fake dating part was an awkward situation for them, I liked Emmie's reaction to it and how open minded she was, after getting the information she needed. I looved so much how brooding Crew was and how out of his control this whole fake dating it was, even if he's been through so many even harder things than that during his FBI missions. His way of being defined the sensitive side of this story, being something which bothered Crew, making him question if there was someone out there who should endure his complex personality. That made me emotional, all his thoughts and insecurities being something which defined him and which made Crew so easy to be relatable with. I liked that vulnerability and how he was strong enough to let his walls down and to be seen for the man he truly was, just by Emmie.

I had the bestest time with Crew, Emmie and their fun friends! Their fake relationship was such a delicious thing to follow and I looove how much they evolved during this story. Super cute and adorable! I need to thank Kendall and her team for sending me this e-ARC!🥰 Such a huge pleasure to be part of your ARC team!🩵

✨Tropes
▫️Roommates To Lovers
▫️Fake Dating
▫️Grumpy x Sunshine
▫️Forced Proximity
▫️Opposites Attract
▫️Protective MMC
▫️FBI Agent
▫️Cookbook Author

[Marisa Tuszl]

4.5 ⭐️. LOVED THIS BOOK, it has been awhile since i read a kendall ryan book but this brought me right back ❤️

[NMmomof4]

2.5 Stars

Quick Opinion: Welp. That was a flop. I kept on forcing myself to continue for some reason even though I knew pretty early on that it wasn't working for me. I looked back at my shelves and I'm pretty sure I've had similar experiences with this author before. I have a lot of her books in my "maybe" shelf though! Obviously she writes a good blurb and has good ideas, I just feel like the execution isn't quite there. The inner thoughts were super repetitive. I usually don't have issues with the "3rd act breakup" but this irked me. I also felt like while the ending was kind of cute, it could've been better. It was all so surface level and especially with considering he was damaged from his childhood in foster care and his service in the military with diagnosed OCD, it all felt like it was thrown out there but not dug into at all. I imagine those readers that like the fluff would really enjoy this one, it just isn't my cuppa.

[Kaity]

So damn cute <3 <3 <3

[BookAddict]

This romance is so freaking good! I couldn’t decide if I love sunshiny, chaos-bringing Emmie or structured, OCD, brainy, socially awkward Crew better, but they’re so sweet together.

Opposites, and I do mean opposites, attract, forced proximity, and a subversive fake-dating clause to the roommate contract make for some really delicious tension. Crew is one of my most favorite “bless his heart" heroes, and I mean that in the best of ways. And Emmie, with her nurturing nature and insight, won me over right along with Crew.

This romance between a cookbook author and FBI tactical agent makes for an entertaining, heartwarming road to forever that you definitely won’t want to miss!

[Victoria Limbert]

I just got a little bored after 60% the first half I enjoyed but the second half kinda dragged

[JewelsyGoolsy]

3.85 stars. Intrigued/enjoyed by the first half. By the 50% mark I was frustrated of the typical “I’m not good enough for you so let’s break-up” and bored of the drawn out and washed over time-gaps it took to finally resolve the issue, but once the MMC got his head out his ass, everything was right in the enjoyable book world again.
Dual POV with cite epilogue/HEA.

[Jennifer]

“You demanded cuddles? In a legal document?”
“Fair is fair. If I have to hold his hand in public, he can snuggle with me once a week.” “I figured if I’m fake dating someone, I might as well get something out of it. There’s a real cuddling deficit in the world, Sadie. I’m solving it one grumpy FBI agent at a time.”
This is a great grumpy / sunshine, fake dating romance.
With Crew’s anxiety and OCD he lives, by himself, with only his routines and systems to keep him warm at night, he definitely does not do girlfriends but then the boss threatens to ‘promote’ him to Alaska. Fearful that he’ll need to start from scratch with his routines and therapy he quickly needs to show he has roots in the city so buries a fake girlfriend clause in the roommate agreement.
Emmie needs a place to stay and stability to finish writing her cookbook and signs the agreement without reading to closely.
Negotiations ensure – hence the contractual cuddling- fake dating starts, and the falling for each other for real gets underway.
It’s actually a really sweet romance. Ms. Ryan gives us a story that’s easy to read, well paced, with engaging characters, not only our main characters but their friends and family as well, with some hilarious dialogue.
There’s a speed bump in the relationship to negotiate when the arrangement comes to its conclusion, but their temporary fake relationship is anything but.
I enjoyed it!

[Amelia ♡]

Skimmed through the end (and middle tbh). Was terrible. Don’t recommend. Tf is up with the rating
.
.
(Kept reading because mc has ocd, and i turn into a starving orphan desperate for love anytime i find a book with representation of something i have too🧎🏽‍♀️)

[C V]

4.25 ⭐️

[Monique Barbour]

okay honestly at 50% I was thinking I was gonna give this 2 stars but by the end I was really loving them like they were sickeningly cute and this is exactly what I wanted to see

[Drew]

What a cute story! I really enjoyed this! The miscommunication breakup with always dock a star for me but atlas it was good!

[Mia]

This was legitimately terrible. I don’t understand the positive reviews.

The plot was ridiculous. Emmy should have run for the hills. The writing was serially awful and totally inconsistent and disjointed. I don’t know why I kept going especially since Crew AND Emmy’s inability to communicate was infuriating. I guess I was trying to understand the 4.5 star rating. it did have a lot of steam in the last quarter which seems to be a plus for a lot of readers but really, the scenes felt tiresome.

This was seriously a waste of time and brain cells.
So much of it doesn’t make sense but I’m not going to waste my time explaining all the holes. But there are many.

[Charlee]

This book feels like disjointed scenes smashed together to try to make a book. It doesn't flow properly, and there's lots of goofs with dates and times, I'm only at 65% and they've already had a breakup for lack of communication that's lasted chapters, and the disjointedness is getting worse, not better. It feels like an ai wrote the pieces and someone smashed them together but didn't read the end result to check for errors. Yetch

[Shelley C]

Wild Card🥰

Wild Card is Crew and Emmie’s story and I absolutely adored these two❣️The banter was heartwarming, funny in places and kept me glued to the pages🙌

Crew is an FBI Agent who is in control of every aspect of his life until he learns he is being considered for a transfer to Alaska. During the final roommate interview, he impulsively includes a girlfriend clause into the seventeen page document with Emmie, that she fails to read and signs….oh boy🙈

Loved it and would love to see a glimpse of them in the future again☺️ I received an advanced copy via Booksprout and willingly leave my honest review❤️

[Molly]

Grumpy FBI agent with no family. Sunshine cookbook author with a loud, crazy family. After their fake relationship removes the threat of his reassignment to Alaska, Crew shuts down and runs. Emmie tries to move on but can’t. With a little interference from their friends, they find their way.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Ez]

This was another winner from Kendall Ryan. While the premise of a dating contract sounds a little over the top, it worked brilliantly in this book and kicked off a sweet and satisfying read. Crew suffers from extreme anxiety and OCD due to past trauma from constantly being thrown around the foster system. After finally achieving a certain degree of stability with his mental health due to consistency with medication, a psychiatrist and his job, all held together with a rigid and unwavering personal routine, his life is about to be shaken up by a possible unwanted promotion to Alaska, overseeing and running a tactical team in his role as a highly capable FBI agent. When the idea of a fake girlfriend to keep him in town is thrown his way in jest, Crew, rapidly running out of options that doesn't include quitting or never being promoted again, takes it to the nth degree, grasps onto the idea and sneaks in a girlfriend clause to his rental agreement for his potential new tenant, Emmie. A cookbook writer, Emmie is a five-foot-four ball of chaos and cookies who vomits sunshine all over Crew's grey and mind-numbingly emotionally void life in the absolute best of ways. They're complete opposites but both exactly what the other needs to balance one another out. She loves that he's an FBI agent and embodies safety, control and stability and she brings pure happiness, smiles and warmth into his life. Since she's a pandemonium in a cute package, she signs without really reading the billion page, highly organised document and the fireworks begin.

This was a really heartwarming story to read. While there was a bit of the predictable 'she deserves better so I need to go cold and break up with her for her own good' nonsense that readers will see coming a mile off due to Crew's anxiety, it was a relatively low angst read that was really emotionally satisfying for me (you'll just want to knock Crew's head into a wall a couple of times). I loved Emmie - she was optimistic and kind and just generally lovely, seeing the softness behind Crew's grumpy exterior. She had her own emotional hang-ups due to failed relationships and never feeling good enough and the warmth she brought to the story, both with her cooking and her personality, was super cute, especially as she showed Crew love through food and brought him back to life one dish at a time (and cuddle sessions, of course). As for Crew, he was perfect and everything I love in a book boyfriend: moody, stoic and your typical tall, dark and deliciously handsome man who had just the right amount of jealous/possessive tendencies. He had loads of baggage but knew and was doing the best he could to live in a world he felt he was often spiralling out of control in. The tactical FBI agent slant looked great on him and Emmie was everything he always wanted but never thought he was good enough to have. He thought he was too broken and a poor, anxiety-ridden version of a man when she was perfect (to him).

The banter between the main characters was terrific to read, especially since Emmie was a such a glass half full girl opposed to Crew's the glass is not only empty, it's fallen off the bench and shattered into a million pieces and cannot be fixed, ever. He was really dry, literal and serious and Emmie and his friends enjoyed stirring him up which was great fun to read. I also loved how the author made the main characters' monologues seems almost informal in tone. It made for an authentic read as well as made me feel, as a reader, that I was in on the secrets being shared. Foster, Crew's best friend and partner, was also fabulous. He was a solid character who tried to support his friend and wanted the best for him. There were plenty laugh out loud moments for me, from Crew saying he'd had easier conversations with terrorists compared to Emmie's mother and Foster equating Crew's love life to a federal crime.

The story was funny and sweet and tackled some real issues such as mental health and self-doubt. I loved it, especially Crew's not so secret love for Emmie who looked at him like he was worth something; something he didn't believe himself. Their chemistry was great and there was just the right amount of smexy times. And just a side note: I absolutely love this cover. It's simple, I know, but it manages to depict Crew and Emmie perfectly. The fact Crew looks lickable also helps lol. One of my favourite quotes from the book: 'You're very bossy,' he says. 'I prefer the term aggressively nurturing.' Also: 'He looks like he could either protect me from a home invasion or be the home invasion'. So good.

[Mia Book Addict]

A fake-girlfriend clause hidden on page seventeen of a roommate agreement? Add a grumpy FBI agent, a sunshine cookbook writer, forced proximity, and mandatory cuddling, and I was completely sold.
Crew Jensen relies on order and routine to manage his anxiety and OCD. When his boss threatens to transfer him to Alaska, Crew’s best friend and FBI partner, Foster, jokingly suggests that having a serious girlfriend might prove he has roots in town. Crew takes the suggestion very seriously and secretly adds a fake-girlfriend clause to his roommate agreement.
Luckily for him, Emmie Marshall signs without reading every page.
Emmie needs a peaceful place to finish her cookbook, while Crew needs someone willing to play his girlfriend. Their arrangement should be simple, but fake dates, public affection, shared meals, and Emmie’s mandatory cuddling sessions soon begin to blur the line between pretending and something much more real.
I loved Crew and Emmie together. Their opposite personalities created plenty of funny moments and playful banter, but their relationship also had a lovely emotional depth. Emmie brings warmth into Crew’s carefully controlled world without ever trying to change him. She understands that his routines help him feel safe, and she gives him the patience and reassurance he needs to slowly lower his walls.
Crew was the character who stole my heart. His difficult childhood in the foster system explains his need for stability and his fear of losing control. He often believes he is too complicated or broken to deserve Emmie, which made watching him accept her love both touching and frustrating. There were definitely moments when I wanted to shake some sense into him!
Emmie may be the sunshine in their relationship, but she has insecurities of her own. She worries that her personality and loving—but sometimes overwhelming—family make her “too much.” Crew gives her the stability she craves and makes her feel accepted exactly as she is. I loved how naturally they balanced each other, especially during the quieter domestic moments. Emmie expresses her feelings through cooking, while their adorable cuddling sessions reveal just how lonely and touch-starved Crew has been. Their growing connection made the third-act conflict particularly painful, and although Crew’s choices were frustrating, the emotional payoff made the angst worthwhile.
The Wild Card is a funny, sweet, and heartwarming opposites-attract romance with lovable characters, wonderful chemistry, emotional growth, and just the right amount of spice. Crew and Emmie shouldn’t make sense on paper, yet together they fit perfectly.
If you enjoy grumpy-sunshine romances, fake dating, forced proximity, nurturing heroines, guarded heroes with soft hearts, and a judgmental cat, this one is definitely worth adding to your reading list.

Happy reading!

• Would I recommend this book: Yes.
• Would I re-read this book: Yes.
• Would I read future books by this author: Yes.

e-ARC kindly provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

The review was originally posted on: https://miabookaddict.com/

[raya_reads_love]

Wild

In this book we follow the love story about Crew and Emmie, which is written from dual POV from the first person. This always helps me to get into the head of the protagonists and to make me understand them easier.

Crew is this grumpy FBI agent, who needs everything exactly his way, but with Emmie everything starts to change.

I liked the way Crew delops thoughout the book. He made the most evolution within this pages. He needed to understand his emotions and act accordingly.

It wasn't easy for him, but I was able to understand him all the way to his new him. There had been a lot of miscommunication between Emmie and him along the way just because he wasn't ready to jump into conclusions other already made.

For me Crew was reliable and I was able to understand all his emotions and actions all the time, even when I wasn't happy with them.

Emmie is this little sunshine and accessible. She has her own feelings to deal with but she is always taking care of others.
She had a development within the story but it isn't that much of an inpact.

I loved the interactions with Crew and Emmie. Their chemistry is palpable from the very beginning and for me reliable. The banter, the feelings and the relationship feels natural.

Conclusion
Funny rom-com.

Info:
This book is a standalone.

Info for non native English readers:
Easy to read and to follow the story. I haven't had the nessesity to look up words.

Book description:
He buried a fake-girlfriend clause in a seventeen-page roommate agreement.
She signed it without reading.
What could possibly go wrong?
FBI agent Crew Jensen thrives on control. His rigid routines keep his anxiety and OCD in check: no chaos, no distractions, and definitely no relationships.

Until his boss threatens to transfer him to Alaska.

Desperate to prove he has "roots," Crew makes a wildly unhinged decision: he slips a fake-girlfriend clause into his roommate contract, hoping his next applicant won't read it carefully.

Emmie Marshall signs on page seventeen without blinking.

Emmie is everything Crew is not—warm, messy, impossibly chatty—and currently racing a cookbook deadline that could make or break her career. She needs stability. He needs a convincing relationship. It's a simple, mutually beneficial arrangement.

Fake dates. Public hand-holding. Mandatory cuddling sessions (her counter-demand—he's just so touch-starved and grumpy).

The more they pretend, the harder it becomes to remember where the contract ends and real feelings begin.

Because she makes the counting in his head stop. He makes her feel like she doesn't have to try so hard.

Suddenly, the arrangement that was supposed to be temporary feels dangerously real.

A grumpy, touch-starved hero, a sunshine heroine who won’t take no for an answer, forced proximity, roommates-to-lovers, fake dating that feels way too real, and one very judgmental cat.

[Alison]

This was a cute one. The Wildcard brings chaos and control together in the best way, and I was amused from the start.

For starters, Crew is grumpy, touch starved, awkward, intense, and incredibly controlled. At the beginning of the book, he has this fragile balance in his life where everything needs to stay the same. His anxiety and OCD mean he has some pretty sky-high walls, but I loved that the story never treated the way his brain works as a character flaw. It's just how he's built. And underneath all that control, he's kind. I seriously wanted to hug him myself. My favorite kind of characters are the ones who feel real and a little bit broken, and Crew definitely fit that bill.

Then there's Emmie Marshall, sunshiney chaos in the flesh. She's warm, genuine, and nurturing especially with food as a love language. She needs stability, but she also wants someone who recognizes her chaos as a feature, not a defect. She's not bossy, though. Oh no. She's aggressively nurturing. Mandatory cuddling sessions? All the yes!

So can you or can you not fake date your roommate to avoid a job transfer? It sounds ridiculous and ill-conceived, but somehow it totally works. Until it doesn't. And then things fall apart.

Poor Crew doesn't seem to realize that everyone is broken in their own way. Watching him slowly understand that he doesn't have to be perfect, that he can want things, and that someone can love him exactly as he is was probably my favorite part of the book. His growth from just surviving to actually living made my heart happy.

The breaking point was a little anticlimactic at first, but dang, I was just so glad it finally happened that I didn't care. And then the tension builds and builds, and when they finally come together? So good. 🔥 The chemistry and heat definitely delivered, and the emotional payoff of watching them finally build a real relationship was even better.

I love the idea that love doesn't have to be perfect to be real. Love is about showing up even when it's hard, especially when it's hard. Crew and Emmie choose each other, and more importantly, they choose to stay. And in the end, Crew gets everything he didn't even know he was allowed to want. He so deserved it. ❤️

I do wish we'd gotten a few more details about Crew's past because my curiosity is definitely piqued. There were also a few little details that didn't always line up, like Crew's height. Is he 6'3" or 6'4"? Not a big deal, but I noticed.

Linda Marshall made me laugh and everyone needs a mother figure like her. And Foster and Sadie are exactly the kind of supportive friends Emmie and Crew need. The supporting characters definitely pull their weight.

At the end of the day, this one brought all the feelings, plenty of laughs, some delicious tension and heat, and left me very happy that I picked it up.

[Kay Daniels (Kay Daniels Romance)]

The Wild Card was a super cute and emotional opposites attract romance.

My heart kept melting over and over as these two opened up and fell for one another. 😍 No lies though...the third act breakup just about broke me because Emmie and Crew are fantastically perfect together, but it did make the ending tearfully wonderful and as much as I hate to admit it...emotionally worth the angst.

These two shouldn't make sense, but ultimately they really, really do. Emmie Wentworth is a sweet chaotic mess who fits perfectly in the orderly world of FBI agent Crew Jensen. While it shouldn't make a lick of sense, considering Crew got rid of a roommate for using his coffee mug, Emmie ignites something different inside of him and it doesn't have anything to do with the girlfriend contract that he tricks her into signing either.

Crew needs order, structure, and rules in his life so it runs smoothly. He didn't have it while he was growing up, so now that he's an adult, rules and consistency are the only things that he can control. So when Emmie shows up on his doorstep with stress-baked cookies it's the first moment he lets down his walls and lets sweet chaos enter his very structured life. He's not even sure why he does what he does around her half the time, but it's endearing and lovely watching him open up and finally feel safe enough to let down his walls for the first time in his entire life.

Emmie needs a quiet place to finish writing her cookbook and Crew's place is perfect. He's neat, organized and has a gorgeous kitchen. So while he may need a little sweetening up himself, Emmie doesn't mind since cooking is her love language and it doesn't take her long to unlock his cravings for everything she brings to his life. 😉 She comes from a loud, invasive family and at times it can be overwhelming, which have actually pushed other people out of her life, but when they meet Crew for the first time, it's like everything and everyone just clicks and those family moments, while sometimes a bit over the top, were also sweetly perfect.

The Wild Card was an emotional ride, but in all the best ways. I really enjoyed watching Crew find himself with Emmie and realizing the potential that he had within himself all along. The same can be said for Emmie, she shined brighter while working on her recipes because they brought such joy to Crew. I really love when love brings out the best in others. When two people find who they were meant to be and their partner just highlights their best qualities. 🥰

[Amy]

The Wild Card was a delightful fake dating romance with a unique twist that kept me invested from beginning to end. Crew, an FBI agent who thrives on structure and routine, has carefully built a life that feels safe and predictable after a childhood spent in foster care. When the possibility of reassignment threatens that stability, he comes up with an unconventional solution: slipping a clause into his roommate agreement that requires his new roommate, Emmie, to act as his fake girlfriend. What begins as a practical arrangement soon evolves into something much deeper as these two complete opposites find themselves unexpectedly falling for one another.

One of my favorite aspects of this story was the dynamic between Crew and Emmie. They couldn't have been more different. Emmie is sunshine, spontaneity, and chaos rolled into one, while Crew is grumpy, meticulous, and governed by routine. Their contrasting personalities created some truly entertaining moments, but what made their relationship so special was the way they balanced each other. Emmie constantly pushed Crew outside of his comfort zone, encouraging him to take risks, embrace change, and see the world from a different perspective. At the same time, she accepted every part of him, including his OCD tendencies and quirks, without judgment or criticism.

I also loved how Crew gradually softened around Emmie. Some of the sweetest moments came when she cooked for him while developing recipes for her cookbook. Watching him light up in those quiet, domestic scenes was incredibly endearing. Emmie's warmth, kindness, and infectious energy brought light into Crew's life and helped him become more open, vulnerable, and connected to the people around him. In return, Crew provided the stability and support that Emmie needed, making their relationship feel balanced and genuine.

This story was filled with heart, humor, chemistry, and plenty of emotional depth. Both Crew and Emmie struggled with vulnerability and were hesitant to admit their true feelings, but their growth throughout the novel was rewarding to watch. As they learned to trust each other, they also learned that happiness often requires embracing change and taking emotional risks.

Overall, The Wild Card was a charming, heartfelt romance that delivered the perfect blend of humor, heat, and emotion. With lovable characters, wonderful character growth, and a captivating opposites-attract romance, it was an enjoyable read that kept me eagerly turning the pages until the very end.

[Lindsey Adams]

⭐️⭐️⭐️️⭐️/ ️🌶️🌶️🌶️

I will never be able to resist reading a book that highlights a grumpy MMC who becomes soft for the FMC. In Kendall Ryan’s standalone, The Wild Card, this dynamic is written and I couldn’t get enough of this book fast enough. Unable to put it down, I loved reading Kendall’s witty banter, sweet romance, and heated spice as our MCs fell more and more thanks to their predicament. The phrase “always read the fine print” stuck out in my mind while reading this book, yet in this case, not reading the fine print is what made this romance possible.

Immediately reading about Crew, I felt for him. His anxiety and OCD tend to make life harder for him, so he copes with strict routines. His emotional growth and character development is what stood out to me most in the book. Starting out grumpy, closed off, and rigid; he finds someone who accepts him for him, while still pushing him outside of his comfort zones. His mental health struggles were written realistically, yet with care to ensure that readers who also battle these same things feel seen and not judged.

Emmie needs a new place and the room she has found seems perfect. Yet, she somehow missed the clause to be her roommate's fake girlfriend at times. Always read the fine print! She takes the signed agreement and goes with it, being everything Crew didn’t know he needed. She blends into his world perfectly, allowing Crew to be himself, while also providing a safe place for her to challenge him on a few things. On the flip side, Crew also helps Emmie to organize parts of her life to provide a better working environment and help her de-stress. Their compatibility is amazing throughout the story and is really easy for readers to connect with.

Kendall’s stories are always easy to fall into and enjoy. I seriously couldn’t put this book down and each page propelled our MCs further into their arrangement and I had to know what was going to happen next. Along with outstanding MCs, she also brings spectacular side characters to every story that add so much to each book. The sweet, found family moments are abundant in this book. This book is written beautifully, in a way that makes you forget you are reading.

As always, review any author notes before reading.

What to Expect:
🩷Fake Dating
✨Roommates to More
🩷Grumpy x Sunshine
✨FBI Agent MMC
🩷Cookbook Author FMC
✨He Falls First
🩷Forced Proximity
✨Touch Starved
🩷Mental Health Rep

[Grady]

‘A machine – That’s what they said about me in the Army too’ – A transformation

South Carolina born author Kendall Ryan quite successfully writes flirty, feel-good romances filled with heart, heat, and plenty of banter. In this fresh new novel she steps into a growingly popular theme of fake dating – an idea that many readers have experienced! Toss in an FBI overtone and an insightful observation of OCD responses and out pops THE WILD CARD!

Kendall’s buoyant writing style sets the tone as the story opens: ‘I have a routine. Wake at five. Run three-miles through the quiet Dalas streets before the rest of the world drags itself out of bed – four if I need to outrun my whole head. Home by six. Shower. Four eggs scrambled, a protein shake with almond milk. Work, where I stop the bad guys. Or try to, anyway. Ninety minutes in the gym after my shift ends to decompress from thinking about said bad guys all day. Home. Shower again Eat. Bed…’And so we meet Crew, the prince of OCD, and the story ignites!

Kendall’s synopsis provides an invitation to enter the fun: ‘FBI agent Crew Jensen thrives on control. His rigid routines keep his anxiety and OCD in check: no chaos, no distractions, and definitely no relationships. Until his boss threatens to transfer him to Alaska. Desperate to prove he has "roots," Crew makes a wildly unhinged decision: he slips a fake-girlfriend clause into his roommate contract, hoping his next applicant won't read it carefully. Emmie Marshall signs on page seventeen without blinking. Emmie is everything Crew is not—warm, messy, impossibly chatty—and currently racing a cookbook deadline that could make or break her career. She needs stability. He needs a convincing relationship. It's a simple, mutually beneficial arrangement. Fake dates. Public hand-holding. Mandatory cuddling sessions (her counter-demand—he's just so touch-starved and grumpy). The more they pretend, the harder it becomes to remember where the contract ends and real feelings begin. Because she makes the counting in his head stop. He makes her feel like she doesn't have to try so hard. Suddenly, the arrangement that was supposed to be temporary feels dangerously real.’ Kendall Ryan’s skills deserve the awards she has received – an invitation to an evening’s reading pleasure!

[Kim Nicole]

I was excited about this one but what I got was a good story that felt slow and things kept getting repeated. What I enjoyed about the book was how Emmie got Crew out of his shell and able to experience things he didn’t allow himself to have or get. His awkwardness was endearing and I liked how the book captured the hero like that. The aspect of that part of the story I really loved. However, there were times I did find Emmie annoying and Crew’s tendencies were bothersome but I have to try to look at that from his perspective. He was struggling with OCD, anxiety and maybe some PTSD? Though the story didn’t really touch on that. It focuses more on his need for routine and control. It captures how out of his depth he really felt when it came to Emmie and the way she blew into his life like a tornado upending his routine and ability to box things up. This is what ultimately ends up hurting their relationship near the end though they do find each other again. What I did like about that is instead of having Emmie leave, it has Crew leaving temporarily to build something and find himself in the process. They never really officially stop seeing each other. It was more like they were two ships in the night passing by without saying anything or meeting up to talk or connect. She doesn’t move out and he doesn’t buy another place. I think this was the part that was too slow for me, as well as the length of time it took for them to get together, or get physical. The whole book just had a really slow vibe and at times I found myself a little bored with how things were moving. I get it, but at the same time I wanted it to happen much quicker. The few spicy scenes that did happen felt awkward and a little tense. Again, I get why but at the same time I just wanted them to go at it and not make it weird. It felt somewhat forced and while it takes baby steps for Crew to feel comfortable with touching and being intimate, they were impactful for him. It wasn’t so much for me, but I was really trying to see it from his perspective and be understanding. It’s just hard when you don’t experience the same thing, nor have that issue. Overall, if you take all that away I did enjoy the book, the things I didn’t like about it did bring the rating down a notch though.

[Sharon in SF]

Crew Jensen grew up in the foster care system where he was constantly uprooted so when he aged out of the system, he joined the military where he could count on structure. He carried on that structure in his personal life to maintain a semblance of control. He didn't do personal relationships because there were too many unknowns he couldn't control. His FBI partner and best friend, Foster, understood and accepted Crew and his quirks. When Crew is offered a promotion which would require him to relocate to Alaska, he starts to tailspin because a move would upend the structure he needs. Foster throws out an outrageous idea to have Crew's potential new roommate be his fake girlfriend, providing a plausible excuse to turn down the promotion. Although Foster says he's kidding, I wonder if it was purposeful to help his friend break up his regular routine! LOL!
Emmie Marshall arrives at the interview a bit frenetic and desperate to find a place where she can continue testing recipes so she meet the deadline for her new cookbook. On the surface, she's the antithesis of the calm structured life Crew leads, but she's very intuitive and sees through most of the seventeen page contract...except the fake girlfriend clause he slipped into the final pages that she didn't see! She hasn't had the best of luck with dating since the men she's gone out with think she's a "bit too much" for their liking. So when she slips in the mandatory cuddling stipulation, Crew just about has a heart attack! Crew must present his girlfriend, the reason he doesn't want the transfer, at a charity event his boss is attending so they must "speed date" their get to know phase to pull it off. There are several LOL moments during that week, and I think Emmie had the most fun breaking through Crew's structured facade. During the gala, when he sees how effortlessly Emmie socializes with his boss and all his friends, Crew starts to imagine what if scenarios with her in his life.
This is a sweet story with an MMC who lived through a traumatic childhood and a sweet FMC who shows him that he deserves the things he never thought he could have.

[Luisa Rivas]

A tender, beautiful romance that made me melt, this story follows Crew, a man who lives inside strict routines to manage his anxiety and OCD, and Emmie, a bright, messy, charming cookbook author who walks into his ordered world and quietly turns it upside down. Their dynamic is soft, funny, and full of tiny moments that show how two opposite personalities can fit together in the most natural way.

I loved watching Crew slowly open up as Emmie brings warmth into his life — especially through food. He goes from eating the same rotation of four sad little meals to trying new dishes, new flavors, and new experiences, all because she makes him feel safe enough to try. And Emmie, who starts off a little lost in her own creative process, finds inspiration in cooking for the grumpy man who doesn’t know how to relax but learns to appreciate every bite she gives him.

Their relationship grows through everyday closeness, gentle respect, and a subtle humor that made me smile so many times. Crew’s brain “short‑circuiting” whenever Emmie looks particularly beautiful is priceless. And Emmie’s ability to balance his structure with her chaos makes them feel like two imperfect beings who are perfect together — two people who complement each other without ever trying to change who the other is.

Crew’s emotional journey is the heart of the book. He begins as someone who pushes love away before it can reject him, convinced he doesn’t deserve anything good. Watching him slowly realize he does deserve joy, connection, and a future was beautiful. His growth is steady, believable, and deeply touching.

The story has warmth, humor, and a lovely sense of belonging. It dragged a little in the middle, but the author quickly picked up the pace and delivered a romance that feels both comforting and hopeful. By the end, Crew’s transformation — from a man who fears love to a man who finally lets himself have it — made the whole journey worth it.

A wonderful, heartfelt love story about finding home in another person.